Tour Helicopter Carrying 7 Missing in Hawaii

The Coast Guard was searching Friday for a helicopter and the seven people on board, including passengers believed to be minors, after the craft failed to return from a scheduled tour of Kauai.

"The weather conditions are challenging," Petty Officer 1st Class Robert Cox, Coast Guard Joint Rescue Coordination Center Honolulu, said in a news release. "We have trained crews responding and on scene searching for any signs of the helicopter and those aboard."

The helicopter was due back Friday at 5:21 p.m. from a tour of Kauai's Nā Pali Coast with one pilot and six passengers, according to the statement from Cox.

Officials said the aircraft is equipped with an electronic locator, but no signals have been received.

Friday’s forecast includes the potential for scattered rain showers as well as continued winds around 23 mph and wind waves at 6 feet. Weather on scene is reportedly 4 miles visibility due to the clouds and rain, the Coast Guard said.

Nearly 80 percent of Kauai is uninhabited, and much of that is a state park, according to the Coast Guard, which added Kauai's accessed or viewed daily by visitors aboard helicopters from several tour companies depending on the weather. Common points of interest include Jurassic Park Falls, the Hanapepe Valley, Waimea Canyon, the Nā Pali Coast, the Hanalei Valley, and Mt. Waialeale.